Spring-wheel.



M. C. MYERS.

SPRING WHEEL.

FILED NOV. 20.

APPLICATION Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTEI'R mr: MYERS WITNESSES M. C. MYERS.

SPRING WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1911.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 1 m 1 u. u o. Q W 1 s 1 1 1 Q I r I 1 S x 1 U k 1 1 1 1 F113. E. b

INVENTEIF'I M.1:. MYEF15 WITNESSES COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH :0, WASHINGTON, D. c.

s'rn'rns PAT are.

MAI-ILON CHARLES MYERS, OP BRANTFORD, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO BENJA- MIN THOMAS LEGGETT, EDUARD HERBERT NEWMAN, THE YOUNGER, AND WILLIAM E. MINO, ALL OF BRANTFORD, CANADA, TRUSTEES FOR THE MYERS PERFECT SPRING SPOKE WHEEL SYNDICATE.

SPRING-WHEEL.

S pecification of Letters-Patent.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAHLON CHARLES MYERS, of Brantford, in the Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, a subject of the King of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in, Spring-Wheels, of which the following'is a specification. y

This invention relates to improvements in spring wheels. and the general objects of the invention are to simplify and improve the construction of spring spokes, to cause them to possess a uniform resiliency, to resist lateral twisting and to be readily attached to the rim of the wheel.

Moreparticular objects of the invention are to provide an improved form of connecting means on the outer end of the spoke by which it may be connected to the rim of the wheel, such means being adaptedto resist lateral twisting, to be readily attached'and detached and to securely hold spokes in proper alined position. This object is accomplished by forming the connecting member integral'with the spoke, of a practically non-flexible character and formed with means to interlock with the rim as pointed out hereinafter.

A further object of the invention is t prevent lateral twisting of the inner portion of the spoke and to give an increased support to said inner portion-without unduly increasing the weight or impairing the resiliency. This object is accomplished by providing one or more integral cross stays betweenthe forks formed on the inner end of the spoke.

A still further object is to prevent the flexible portion of the spoke, during use, contacting or bearing against the rim of the member or outer end of the spoke is so formed that it will support the flexible portion of the wheel a distance inwardly from the rim and at the same time support it with the end tangential to, the rim, whereby a maximum amount of resiliency will be offered and the end of the flexible portion will be free to bend inwardly and outwardly in aradial direction.

These and other features of the invention are all more fully set forth and described in the accompanying specification and drawlngs.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wheel constructed in accordance With my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section 011 the line :22, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation partially in section of the wheel. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of one of the spokes.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Referring to the drawings, (1, represents the hub, of any suitable character, and connected to the rim 6 also of any desirable construction by a set of spring spokes, each of which is constructed in a novel manner herein described. Each spoke is formed of a thin flat strip of metal, the greater portion of which is of a resilient character. The extreme outer end, however, of each spoke is substantially non-flexible and is adapted to prevent the flexible portion, when it bends, from contacting with the rim. This non-flexible portion is also so shaped that it will support the extreme end 10 of the'flexible portion in a direction substantially parallel to a tangent to the rim, whereby the flexible portion of the spoke will bebent more or less to the shape of a semicircle, permitting the outer end to yield freely in a radial direction.

The outer substantially non-flexible portion is formed into an integral connecting member 11 which has means to engage the rim, the portion engaged with the rim being turned tangentially with respect thereto, and to provide for this tangentialturn and alsofor the support of the end of the flexible portion in the manner previously dewheel, and to effect this, the connecting;

scribed, the connecting member is of substantially double ogee or canted curved shape and the particular form illustrated is formed with a curve 6 at the outer end of resilient or flexible portion 7" of the spoke. While the connecting member may be attached to the rim in any of the usual ordinary ways, by bolts, rivets, keys or the like, I prefer to employ the improved form of novel construction which I have devised and which comprises an interlocking end on the connecting member adapted to project through the slot 2' in the rim. A plurality of these spokes may be provided if desired.

As illustrated, the end of the connecting member is formed with a right angle turn g, the extreme end of which is formed with a lip h adapted to extend concentrically with the rim and to bear against the inner face thereof, the connecting member being formed on the outer side with a shoulder or seat Z) to engage and contact with the rim, said seat or shoulder being substantially tangential to the inner surface of the l'lIIl.

To prevent twisting of the connecting member and any lateral movement of the spoke as a whole, means are provided on the inner portion of it to engage with the rim, the particular form of such meansillustrated comprising a pin Z adapted to enter a corresponding recess j in the inner surface of the rim.

The inner end of each spoke is formed with diverging forks f and f and to prevent twisting of these forks with respect to each other and to obviate the tendency to lateral movement, they are connected by a plurality of transversely extending stays l4.

7 It will be noted that the forks converge to the point 10 at which they join the connecting member, and that the sides of the connecting member from this juncture converge less rapidly toward each other. The forks may be connected to the hub in a variety of ways and for the sake of illustration I have shown a dovetail tongue 71. on the inner extremities of the forks f and 7' said tongues being adapted to seat within sockets g and g in the hub. The forks f and f diverge evenly from the solid piece f toward the inner end of the spoke so that when the wheel parts are assembled, the medium lines of the hub, spoke and rim will be in alinement. By means of this construc tion I am able to obtain the full resilience of the spokes for the deflections of the wheel and resist the lateral strains upon it which would cause it to buckle as a result of the load on the hub or the impact of a relatively immovable object against the rim.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention, within the scope of the claims, con structed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theaccompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a spring wheel, a rim and spring spokes, each spoke being formed with a continuous bow-shaped curve from the hub to near the rim and having an integral con necting member of double ogee shape adapted to support the extremity of the. curved portion inwardly from the rim,'the end of the connecting member being formed with a right angled turn having'its lip adapted V to engage ,on the outer face, and extend concentrically with the rim.

2. In a spring wheel, a rim and spring spokes, each spoke being formed with a continuous bow-shaped curve from the hub to near the rim and having an integral connecting member of double ogeeshape provided with a shoulder on its outer side designed to engage and contact substantially tangentially with the inner surface ofthe 3. In a spring wheel a I'lIIl and spring spokes, each spoke having on its inner end evenly diverging forks provided with clovetailed tongues on the ends thereof and transversely extending stays connecting the f0rks,.the said spokes being formed in a continuous bow-shaped curve from thehub to near the rim and having an integral connecting member of double ogee shape adapt- 7 ed to support the extremity of the curved portion inwardly from the rim, the end of the connecting member being formed with a right angled turn adapted to engage on the outer face and extend concentrically with L the rim, and a pin formed integral with the connecting member adapted to engage the rim, substantially V as describedi In witness whereof I havehereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

MAHLON CHARLES MYERS. I Witnesses:

MARGARET CoNBoY, JANET GRAHAM.

' Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D.G. 

